The Mice Will Play
by obsessedatopia
Summary: While Stef and Lena have their much deserved anniversary break, the kids all make plans for their time away. The plans, however, aren't necessarily the ones their Moms - or even their siblings - are aware of. In the words of Teri Polo - "Chaos ensues". Full family fic.
1. Risky Business

**Author's Note: **

**Hello folks...here's a new one. Probably about 11 chapters. Fostering Fun-esque but a little different from my usual and it's normal TV universe (but a few months in future). I****t's actually one I started months ago at the end of 1A then left for a while but then I had a similar **Fostering Fun request and a similar theme came up in discussions about potential stories for S2 so I revived it.

**Thanks to _thesameguest_ for the reading thing and _TheTBone_ for helping with the ideas (and demanding I "make Braylor happen" when looking for a name for Brandon's new girlfriend.****)**

**NB: Taylor is not meant to be representative of anyone, despite the name request.**

**Set around Stef and Lena's first wedding anniversary. Callie and Jude are both adopted by this point so (as you can tell by "Braylor") this is definitely not a Brallie fic.**

******Would love to know what you think! **

* * *

**_[Flash forward]_**

**Smash!**

_**The sound of tumbling glass resonated through the room sharper than the pain running through Jesus' arm. Emma, leaping back to avoid the shards.**_

_**"Jesus!" Mariana ran over to her brother. "Stop it!"**_

_**With another swinging yell, Javi jumped back up and as he dived and they bundled across the floor sweat, bubbles and beer flying.**_

_**"Guys! Cool it! Break it…up!" Brandon launched onto them pulling his hopped up brother off the still startled, but equally as proficient in fighting, target.**_

_**Callie ran into the commotion, too many words of horror to express, before Jude ran in behind.**_

_**"Guys – there are lights outside…" the words rang off his lips as all faces snapped towards him.**_

_**"A car just pulled up!"**_

* * *

Callie threw her bag down and jumped onto the sofa. Stef and Lena had made plans to take their anniversary celebration out of town, making sure all of the kids had someone's house to stay at in their absence. Well, as far as they could.

Callie felt a little bad for having lied about having plans but she could watch the house and even if they found out and she got in a little trouble, it couldn't be worse than inviting herself to someone's house that she barely knew or liked. All of her friends were either boys or in her family, and this seemed the best option in the greater scheme of things.

She made her mental check list of things to do. None of them involved much other than food and relaxing, for once enjoying the space that the absence of four siblings and two immensely involved mothers would leave. She loved having a family, she really did - but it didn't change the fact she had built herself as a loner and enjoyed some space every now and again.

First stop - kitchen. She moved through to the empty room to make some popcorn.

So empty.

So _big!_

She'd barely noticed how much space there was.

She momentarily contemplated a Risky Business style dance routine but even without anyone in she still couldn't quite bring herself to - just in case there was some nanny cam or even some secret spy robot from the government. Wow, her thoughts deviated when they were the only thing to accompany her.

After a bowl of popcorn, a full episode of America's Next Top Model and ten minutes of wondering why Mariana watches such things, she decided she may as well take advantage of a bath with no time pressure.

She part danced up the stairs, still with Old Time Rock and Roll in her head. Deciding she now had to listen to it right that second, she rescued her headphones and player and grabbed her dressing gown from her room.

Head rocking, she closed her eyes and mimed her way into the bathroom before a screech and song stopping clatter as her iPod fell to the floor.

"Whoops! So many doors to this bathroom, guess I missed that one!" a tall brown haired girl beamed. "I swear I've never seen a bathroom that leads onto so many rooms. I mean is this normal or...? You know what I mean?"

The girl babbled as Callie looked on, mouth propped open as she gawped at the dripping girl wrapped in a towel standing in front of her.

"But I guess you're pretty used to it, seeing as it's your bathroom. At least, I _hope_ it's your bathroom!" she laughed. "Because if you are a burglar or something then I guess I should be hitting you or screaming or something, right?"

The talking finally stopped as the girl continued to smile, apparently un-phased.

"And you are…?" Callie finally was able to co-ordinate finding her own words with a break in the unknown guest's.

"God, sorry!" she put a palm to her forehead. "I'm Taylor. I'm assuming you're one of Brandon's sisters."

Callie's forehead creased as she had a moment for her brain to catch up with the train of dialogue she had just been met with.

"And you're sorta…naked in our bathroom..." Was all she could come out with, still blindsided by the meeting…and quietly grateful she had abandoned her plans for a dance routine.

"Right!" Taylor blushed looking down at her towel wrapped body. "I was just taking a shower. Brandon said we'd have the house to ourselves, I didn't realise you were gonna be here. I'd have warned you, or at least locked all the doors. All three. Seriously though, is that normal, like how do you remember to lock them all?" her mind deviated back examining the room, Callie dipping her head before turning to shout to Brandon.

"_Brandon!_" she yelled, moving out to the hall, her confused brother hopping out of his room.

"Callie!" he gasped. "I thought you...you snuck home too?" he quickly changed direction in realisation.

"Brandon you didn't tell me how pretty your sister was." Taylor chirped as he looked to her, horrified, as his mind processed the encounter that must have just taken place.

"I mean I know you guys had that thing like a million years ago but really like, I see why. Your hair is beautiful." she stroked one of Callie's loose waves, Callie unsure of what to make of it but not sensing anything other than a genuine niceness.

"Tay, why don't you get changed." Brandon smiled awkwardly, shuffling his hands in his pockets. "Sure thing! I'll let you draw the house share plan. Nice to meet you Callie." she smiled.

After a moment of silence Callie launched forward grabbing Brandon into her room.

"Did I for real just meet your new secret girlfriend naked in our bathroom?"

"Wait, she was naked?" he asked, nervously before looking back as Callie slapped his arm.

"She may as well have been. What the hell Brandon, you're meant to be at Aiden's!" she scolded before he took a second to regroup.

"Hey hold up, you're meant to be at Tiffany's"

"I've barely even spoken to Tiffany out of class, clearly it was an excuse."

"So why are you mad at me?" he asked defensively.

"Because you _have_ friends to stay with. I was meant to have the house to myself, not me, you and Marcia Brady!"

"Look, Taylor's cool."

"She seems it, really." Callie replied. "But you know, it may have been nice to meet her, I dunno, in the living room."

"It is not my fault you're sneaking around! Look, clearly we're both taking advantage of an empty house - there's no reason we have to be in each other's way."

"I guess not." Callie sighed. "But if Moms find out they're gonna kill you for sneaking a girl over, you better not drag me down with you."

"OK." he held his hands up. "But same applies. Not that there's any reason they should find out." they nodded as they were suddenly interrupted by a blast of music that quickly dropped down, followed by a few laughs. They turned to the stairs confused before exchanging a look and heading down.

"That's perfect, dude. It should be as loud as we can without it being heard out the house." Jesus commented as his friend Jordan tweaked the volume on the record player.

"Jesus, are you sure this amount of beer is a good idea? I thought you said like twenty peo-..._Callie!_ Brandon!" Mariana gasped, shocked, dropping a handful of cans down on the counter, two boys with more following.

The four teens swapped looks of nervousness and anger as everyone's presence was acknowledged by all parts.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" Callie finally groaned folding her arms.

So much for her quiet, undetected night in.

* * *

**So...thoughts? Predictions? Like? Hate? Actually...preferably not the latter unless constructive. Anyhow, if you wanna hit the review button I always love to hear thoughts. Have a nice night!**

_**Next Chapter Preview: As the party gets under way, Lena and Stef have some Mom-time.**_


	2. Trouble Bubbling

**Hey guys, thanks for the great reviews! I do so love reading them. Thanks to _thesameguest_ for reading and _TheTBone_ for bouncing.**

**Here is part 2...**

"This is a terrible, _terrible_ idea." Callie collapsed down next to Brandon and his new girlfriend who were sat together on the couch as the room slowly filled.

"Well good luck stooping the twins, they seem pretty set." Brandon replied, not quite providing the comradery Callie was hoping for.

"I don't even know how Jesus persuaded Mariana. I thought she at least would process this is a one-way ticket to ass-kick land." She continued to stress. She wasn't sure if she was more worried about getting caught or more just disappointed in the turn her evening had taken.

"Come on Cal, it's not like Moms are gonna throw us out the house."

"I had a friend who had a party when his parents were out of town once." Taylor weighed in. "He got busted and his parents sent letters to like everyone who was there with a list of all the damage. He was grounded for like, ever." Taylor sipped at her beer as Brandon and Callie looked to her, unimpressed.

"Oh but, that totally won't happen to you guys, I mean...you're a lot smarter than him." she desperately tried to assure them before muting herself with her can.

"OK look, worst case, Moms find out. This wasn't our doing anyway, it's Jesus and Mariana's party."

"We aren't exactly shutting it down though, are we?" Callie reasoned. "We're the older kids, we're in charge when Moms aren't here."

"Well we're not to meant to be here either so we're not technically in charge." Brandon smiled, his own beer maybe clouding his judgement.

Callie sighed nervously, playing with her necklace as Brandon nudged her arm.

"Just relax Callie, honestly. It'll be fine."

"I think you need a drink." Taylor smiled, hopping off the sofa and grabbing a beer from the side.

"Really, I'm good. At least one of us needs to stay sober." Callie replied, resigning to her fate.

"Well good for you. I totally admire that, you know. Not drinking when everyone else is." Taylor smiled. "Like when we all go online tomorrow and there'll be all the drunken photos but like not you, because you think ahead and that's like really admirable. I mean 'cause you know what it's like then there's all of the liking and comments and you wonder well do they like it because I'm making an ass out of myself or are they liking it because they like me or…"

As Taylor's babbling went on Callie was suddenly feeling more like that beer.

"Well, thanks." she decided to cut her off sooner rather than later at the first hint of a gap. "If you excuse me I'm gonna go find Mariana." she moved off the sofa rubbing her temple.

"Hey no party pooping!" Brandon order through a playful tease before pulling Taylor closer to himself and into a kiss.

* * *

"OK...this is my favourite moment ever. There has never been a moment so perfect or pleasurable ever in the history of the world. Don't you agree?" Stef murmured, her eyes closed and body in bliss.

"Well, I kind of enjoyed the wedding and the moments each of the three adoptions went through but no, hot tubs. That's gotta be it." Lena teased, her own head back against the edge of the tub.

"A hot tub with my beautiful wife who every time I look at or touch I re-experience all those moments at once." Stef leaned over to caress and kiss Lena's hand.

"Oh, nice save!" Lena laughed, opening an eye to peer at a smiling Stef.

"I am a pretty remarkable lady, just ask my ever satisfied spouse."

"I'll be sure to, I'm sure she'd give you a glowing report." Lena crawled on top of her wife, finally prying open her eyes.

"Well hello there." she kissed her on the lips as Lena floated on to her lap before Stef cleared her throat and pointed to the entrance. They had already enjoyed 20 minutes of the empty pool room though the arrival of another couple indicated their privacy had come to an end.

Spotting them, Lena settled back to her place beside, Stef pulling her under her arm as the other couple splashed into the pool. The interruption of the moment cast Stef's mind back to other things.

"You know, speaking of those adoptions..."

"Stef..." Lena cut her off before she even had to say it. "You said yourself, they'll be fine. Everything was sorted."

"Hey you had your mini-freak-out in the car, now I can have mine."

"And you were the one who convinced me in the car that we deserve this and the kids are old enough to be OK. We probably could have even left them in the house. Callie or Brandon at least."

"Yes, yes. I know." Stef sighed dipping down further into the water.

"Then let's just focus on us. Why is this coming out now all of a sudden?"

Stef closed her eyed again, resting her head back to hopefully recapture some of that relaxation.

"Maybe I'm just not good at relaxing. As soon as I fall into it I know it can't last so I have to think of everything that will ruin it. Right?"

Lena moved to her side, wrapping an arm across Stef's chest.

"Well get back your car mentality, shall we?"

"Ha! I'm always more relaxed when I'm driving. Maybe it's because it clears my head and demands my focus."

"Well how about I demand your focus then?" Lena whispered flirtatiously, her hands wandering around Stef's body and piquing her attention.

"We've done the fancy meal thing, the spa thing, the inappropriately hands on in the hot tub thing." she added with a husk as Stef raised an eyebrow.

"How about now we do the room thing." she leaned up and kissed her cheek. "And you let me do some backseat driving."

Stef purred slightly, leaning down to Lena'a gasping smile.

"Well I'm not entirely sure what that means but I reckon it's is a pretty head-clearing offer."

"Oh it is..." Lena bit her tongue as they both got possessed by urgency and hopped out, grabbing towels.

As they quickly gathered their things Stef spied a missed call on her phone. The number wasn't a recognised one but she noticed there was a message left.

As they moved through to the changing area, she put it to her ear, taking it in and sighed.

Think we may have to hold that thought." she informed Lena, hanging up the answerphone.

* * *

**What's the phone message? Will Callie ever relax? Will Taylor ever stop talking? Would love to know your thoughts...**

_**Next Chapter Preview: Mariana tries to help Callie relax and the boys try some party cuisine**_


	3. The High Road

**Warning: themes of mild drug use coming up, though nothing which should endorse or condone it. Eat your greens kids, but not those kinds of greens.**

**Thanks for reviews!**

"Oh my Gawd! That was totally not what happened!" Mariana slapped at the arm of one of a blonde friend of hers who had just completed a recount of a recent group date turned failed _date_ to another friend accompanying them in their huddle.

"Hey but, onwards right? I see Javi came!" the blonde girl knocked her elbow as Mariana looked longingly over to a tall, dark eyed Hispanic boy, glancing her a look with a perfectly white grin.

"He's so dreamy." she sighed.

"Well from what I hear, you could be in there."

"Well as long as he doesn't end up being a dick. I've been caught out by that before." She thought back to past memories, especially an underwear incident that she had tried to put as far back in the past as possible. "He's so sweet though, you know? Like one of those guys who's sweet _and_ hot? And he totally knows how to respect a girl too." she rocked on her feet, pressing her hands up against the table.

"Hey..." Callie slinked over, hoping to at least attempt conversational but clearly her nerves were more visible than she hoped.

"Callie, it'll be fine." Mariana assured her, immediately reading her look.

"Right, right." she held her palms up. "Just, are there many more people coming?"

"Jesus told me like 20, it's the only reason I agreed. Well, that and because he told me if I didn't then it was my own fault if people saw him as the "fun twin". Like, seriously? As if." she sipped her cup angrily, the memory clearly dogging up her rivalry.

"So you agree this is a terrible idea?" Callie asked, hoping for a flicker of support

Mariana thought it over for a moment. "Well, look - it can't go _that_ wrong, I mean, as long as we keep an eye out. There's nothing breakable out, we don't have that much alcohol and we only have our closer friends here, right?"

Callie's brow creased as she looked around.

"Some of these kids I've never even seen before..."

"Well..." Mariana glanced round. "I mean, Jesus knows them. Just relax, sis. I mean so, what? The worst that can happen is we get caught. We'll tell Moms you had nothing to do with it. _Ooh!_ Beer pong!" she beamed, spying a table being set up and seeing Callie's face still drop. Feeling a twinge of guilt she rubbed her arm.

"Look, if you really want us to shut it down, we will." she offered earnestly as Callie looked around again with a sigh.

It was true that it was disciplined enough so far and there weren't that many people. She looked at Jesus laughing with Emma and their friends and gave a quick scan to see nobody was swinging from the roof. Finally she settled back on Mariana's offering, albeit pleading, eyes.

"OK, fine!" she rolled her eyes as Mariana clapped. "Yayy! Now let's have some fun."

"I'll try but I'm still not gonna drink, just in case."

"S'all good, whatever you want, just try and enjoy yourself a little and not worry!" Mariana assured her dragging her over to the games.

* * *

"Pretty great party, huh?" Jesus smiled, patting Brandon on the shoulder as he joined him at the breakfast bar, scattered with makeshift nibbles and half-drunk bottles.

"Well yeah, thanks for the invite, bro. I can't believe you were going to hold a party and not tell us!" He scolded lightly.

"Hey, don't blame me, I figured you wouldn't be up for it. I guess I forgot you can be cool occasionally." Jesus teased digging deep into a plate of cakes, handing one to his brother.

"I can't believe you were organised enough to prepare food, too." Brandon grabbed it off him, lightly teasing his brother and taking a bite.

"Hey, I can think ahead – but besides, it's just chips and dip." Jesus laughed. "And then some guys brought extra stuff I guess."

"God these are amazing!" Brandon took a bite and looked down to what it was Jesus had handed him.

"Yeah, this is my second. Dude Harry brought 'em over." He mumbled through his full mouth.

"'Sup children?" Emma joined them by the table, looking down at what they were eating. "Space cake? _Really?_" She examined the trace of chocolate on Jesus' fingers. "I'm surprised you even let them in here - coach has been known to do spontaneous drug testing."

Jesus and Brandon exchanged a worried look as they licked their fingers.

"What? How do you know they're space cakes?"

Emma gave them a look of disbelief. "Brownies…at a party…you mean you didn't even make that connection?" The boys gulped down their mouthfuls.

"You can't seriously be that stupid…" she laughed. "I'm assuming the beer hasn't helped with your judgement though." She sipped at her cup, the observation not affecting her own behaviour.

"Shit…" Jesus looked down at the plate again. "But…they're so good…" he added, clearly the lure also clouding his judgement.

"We can't have pot at this party…" Brandon added, his panic setting in. "Can you imagine what Mom would say?"

"Right, I'm pretty sure the rest she'd be cool with…" Emma added with a raised eyebrow. "Just toss them. It's too late now, just be careful and don't' have any more." She soothed Jesus, rubbing a hand down his arm as he sprang forward to the plate.

"We can't toss them, Harry would flip out –"Jesus swung round with the contraband as Brandon took it off him, taking charge.

"Then we'll just…we'll just hide them…" He tucked the box into one of the cabinets. "If he looks for them we can get them back but that way no-one will eat them? Right?" He flicked his head round looking for reassurance. He didn't find much from a shrugging Jesus and eye-rolling Emma, taking another swig of her beer.

"What's happening, guys?" Taylor cosied up to Brandon as both boys looked back nervously.

"Nothing." Brandon responded, eyes wide – hit by the guilt.

"The boys just accidentally took the high road." Emma explained as Jesus shushed her and Taylor looked on confused.

They were all distracted by a terrified yell.

"Music off guys! Quick!" Callie waved her hand, her hand gripping her cell.

"What's going – "

"Mom's calling! Like, _now!_" She explained, panicked running past to go outside.

**See if your guesses were correct...will they be coming home? Will the kids have time to sort things if they do? Thanks for all the love so far, keep the reviews and comments coming.**

_**Next Chapter Preview: The phonecall risks bringing Stef and Lena home, but how much do they know?**_


	4. Wake Up Call

**Posting a little earlier than I intended, but what the heck! See it as a celebration of the new promo...speaking of which - PROMOOOO! It's floating around Twitter if you haven't seen it yet. OK, here's chapter 4!**

Callie darted outside just as the phone had rung off. She took a deep breath and dialled back with a wince.

_"Callie, hey! Sorry to interrupt your evening. Is everything OK with you?"_ Stef spoke, clearly a little agitated.

"Uhm…yeah. Everything's good." Callie replied nervously. "What's up?"

_"We need you to help, we got a call from Connor's parents – look we don't want to interrupt your evening but we wondered if you could pick up Jude."_

"Jude? What? Is he OK?" Her instincts immediately flicked on.

_"It's nothing, it's not anything serious, just he just seems to have a bit of a stomach thing. No temperature, just we thought you may want to – wait, you're at Tiffany's right?"_

"I…well…"

_"You just sound like you're outside…"_

Caught off guard by the comment, Callie began to panic. She was never good at lying off guard.

"I am, I…was just…out for some air."

There was a pause on the line as Stef assessed the signs.

_"Callie, are you lying to me?"_ Stef replied, the realisation settling in that the stuttering had gone on too long. The silence afterwards not helping.

"I, maybe…well my plans sort of fell through so I just came home." Her heart beat faster as Stef failed to reply. She could hear her faintly whisper something to Lena.

_"OK, look we'll talk about that when we get back. Maybe it's good you're home. I really don't think Jude should be at Connor's tonight if he's ill. Do you mind looking after him till we make it back?"_ Callie's mind, distracted by Brandon and Taylor coming out to join her, wandered as she went into auto-pilot. "Of course, I'll get him and take care of him."

As Stef continued to talk it quickly dawned on Callie the full extent of what had just been said.

"Wait, you're coming home?" she cut her off, trying to hide the trepidation, Brandon launching forward to try and hear.

_"Well yes, sweets. If he's ill we can't exactly stay away."_

Callie looked through the window at the state of the room before her, Jesus and Emma looking out nervously and Brandon beginning to drunkenly babble through a whisper.

"You don't need to do that, really." She pushed him away in case Stef could hear.

"Put her off!" He whispered as she gave him a hard shove, Taylor pulling him in.

_"Is someone with you?"_ Stef responded cautiously.

"No, not at all – my line just always gets crackly out here. Look, honestly Mom. I've looked after Jude through all kinds of sicknesses before and it's not that bad, right?"

_"Right…"_

"If he gets a fever or something I'll get you home. Really, this is your anniversary weekend." She chuckled desperately. "You shouldn't have to drop everything when we can take care of him."

_"We?"_

"Me, of course..._I_." Callie shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "I'm just so used to talking about all of us." There was another pause on the line before Stef came back.

_"OK then…well you call to let me know what happens, OK?"_

"Great – yes. No problem. I'll sort it. Talk to you later." Callie hung up with a deep breath. She threw a scowl at Brandon.

"We need to shut this party down now – I need to go get Jude." She ordered him, striding into the room and straight for her keys.

"Can you sort this? Please?" She commanded before taking off out of the door and driving straight to Connor's house.

* * *

"Oh baby." Callie rubbed Jude's cheek as she walked him to the car. "How you feeling?"

"Awful." He groaned. "I dunno what happened, I mean I was feeling a little off before but then, after I ate dinner it just all…it just kicked off something bad." Hey lay his head back against the headrest as Callie put a hand on his forehead. He wasn't burning up but she could feel he was hot from the heaving she imagined he'd been doing.

"You just need some sleep – here, take this just in case. I'll drive slow." She handed him a bag to clutch onto before starting the engine.

She eyed him nervously, unsure of how to introduce the admission of the nights' events.

"Look, I sort of have to warn you about something…before we get home…" She side-glanced before focussing back on the road.

"Uh-huh?" He grumbled, unable to dedicate much attention.

"See, Jesus and Mariana, well – they sort of had a little party. I mean it should be over by the time we get back…but the house…"

"A party?" Jude's head snapped up before he steadied himself, the burst of energy clearly having been too much.

"Just a small one, I didn't know about it…"

"Moms are going to be so mad!" He gawped, the sickness probably making it seem even worse than the bad situation it already was

"Moms don't need to find out, right?" She pleaded with her eyes. "I mean – it's not got anything to do with us, they're shutting it down now. Just….you won't tell them will you?" She chuckled nervously as Jude buried his head back against his chair.

"Of course not." He whispered, much to her relief. "We finally have brothers and a sister, I'd prefer you weren't all murdered."

Callie gulped down and continued on home. She would prefer that too.

As the car eventually stopped she pulled up in the drive and helped Jude out of the car. He had managed to keep his stomach contents down but she still didn't want to let him go.

"The party should be over now, it's been about an hour since I left." She reassured him. "I hope they've started clearing up too. It better not get left to me because they're all too drunk." She thought aloud as a beer bottle came flying out of her bedroom window.

"It depends if that's how they're tidying up…" Jude winced as Callie strode towards the door. The blast of music as she opened the front door didn't fill her with confidence, either.

* * *

**_[Flashback]_**

**_"Well…that was…interesting." Stef commented to Lena, hanging up the phone as her call with Callie ended._**

**_"She's going to get Jude though, right?" Lena asked._**

**_"Yep, she is." Stef rubbed her chin with the edge of her cell._**

**_"So, what's wrong?" her wife pressed further. "You think they're up to something?"_**

**_"Oh, I know they're up to something." She replied, looking out across the view from the window, going through the combinations in her mind. She didn't hear anything too suspicious, just that Callie was home and she could have sworn she heard Brandon. Her more hopeful mind tried to take control rather than her pessimistic one. "But Callie will put Jude first…I think we give it a little while longer and see what happens." She tried to convince herself, followed by a long silence as she chewed on her lip._**

**_"We're going back aren't we?" Lena sighed as Stef squinted._**

**_"Do you think we should?"_**

* * *

**Will they? Won't they? What will they find if they do? What will they do if they don't? Thanks for the reviews so far - keep the guesses coming!**

_**Next Chapter Preview: A Survival Guide: Ways you should avoid ending a party.**_


	5. Smash!

**Thanks for all the super suggestions and guesses, guys! I love to hear what people are predicting. I've actually worked in some of the suggestions (though in a way that fits with my already pre-written story). I'm sorry I can't write everyone's ideas (I wish I could as they're all things I'd love to see too if I could do them all!). I am hoping you'll all enjoy what I did by the end of it - there'll be some jumping around timewise too from other angles. **

**Right - back to the action!**

"Taylor, what are you doing?" Brandon asked stumbling over to her the effects of his intoxication thoroughly in play. They had started to remove the guests very slowly over the last hour but there were still stragglers and none of the existing family members had enough grasp on sobriety to be focussing their attentions efficiently.

"I'm trying to help tidy!" She replied, splashing through some glasses. "We gotta clean up right? I'm washing glasses!"

"He tried to focus on her as she piled them up on the side."

"Who was using glasses?"

"The solo cups ran out a while ago so people started getting them out."

"Cooool." Brandon drew the words out in his daze, the herbal peppering of his snacks strangling out any of the former panic.

"You're so high…!" Taylor sniggered as she fumbled through more of the washing, the water spilling out over the bowl as the tap continued to run. "I can't believe you ate those brownies!" She flicked the brush at him in her own drunken babble as a fling of bubbles flew onto his face. He gawped before collapsing into a fit of his own giggles.

"That's mean!" He fumbled out tossing a handful at her, along with a scoop of water. Laughing through an open-mouthed gasp she chucked a cup over him as he wrestled her playfully towards the side, slipping over the increasingly wet floor. Eventually the bubbles flying escalated until Brandon grabbed the edge of the bowl itself. It caught on the side, flipped and smacked down a tidal wave of water spilling across the kitchen floor and catching everything in its surrounding.

"Have you guys seen Mariana?" Jesus rubbed his hands down his thighs nervously approaching the young couple and barely even registering the growing mess around them. They erupted into laughter, trying to wipe the water from their faces.

Jesus, having been hit with a double dose of brownie, twitched rampantly, scanning the room.

"I dunno where she went, most of the guys have left but I can't find her and I don't know if she went with them and we need her to help us I mean what if she went to the wrong house or went home with someone?

"It's the brownie talking, Jesus. You need to calm down with the paranoia." Emma hopped after him, a hand on his back as he blatantly ignored her.

"She may have had a brownie too!" His eyes flared. "Or too much to drink...or what if she's collapsed somewhere…" his voice got faster along with the furious rubbing of his legs. He swung round as he thought he heard a laugh.

"Dude, she's probably upstairs, relax bro!" Brandon slumped onto his shoulder, his words spaced, almost polar opposite to Jesus' quickening pace.

"Man I need to eat." Jesus scratched his head and dived for a bowl of chips. "But I need to find Mariana!" He picked up a handful and tossed around, flinging at half bowl out with his speed and Brandon reached to grab at the flailing chips before collapsing into more laughter, Emma rolling her eyes with a head shake.

* * *

"Sucks the party had to end early, huh?" Javi brushed a hair from Mariana's face leaning against the wall. He stumbled over his words but his smile was still flashing sharp. They could vaguely hear the sound of Brandon and Taylor in the kitchen, but their limited focus was solely fixed on each other.

"Well maybe you can come round like another time, you know, if you want?"

"Your parents go away a lot?" He asked pulling her face closer, the giddiness from the touch and her own alcohol intake trapping her words into no more than a blushing giggle.

Without answering her eyes got big and passed a silent signal, transmitted and received as he pulled her into a kiss, sloppy with neither of them possessing much control over their actions. The kissing got quicker as hands travelled and pawed, Javi pushing Mariana up against the wall as she willingly pushed his face against her own. Their pleasure was stunted by a shout as Jesus dived at him.

"You're attacking my sister! He's attacking my sister!" He bumbled over trying to grasp at Javi's shirt but missing and passing into the wall. Right now the mixture of the beer and the weed, hitting him twice as strong, left little hope for a blind sided Javi.

"Jesus!" Emma yelped launching, to pull him up.

"What the –" Javi began before Jesus regained his balance, struggling away from Emma and swinging back round, flying for who he perceived as an aggressor. Making connection with Javi's face the testosterone was sparked and the drunken teens bustled through, fists gripping and missing, stumbled round the gap from the hall and into the kitchen. Taylor and Brandon looked over, jumping back and taking a skid on the wet floor, crashing back and both collapsing into each other.

The wrestling teens, accompanied by the cursing from their own mouths and the shrieking from Mariana and grappling from Emma, danced across to the sink. Losing their footing on the wet floor Javi slid back as Jesus arm swung, Javi slipping down onto all fours onto the floor and Jesus straying arm flying into the tower of sparklingly clean glassware.

_Smash!_

The sound of tumbling glass resonated through the room sharper than the pain running through Jesus' arm. Emma, leaping back to avoid the shards.

"Jesus!" Mariana ran over to her brother. "Stop it!"

With another swinging yell, Javi jumped back up and as he dived and they bundled across the floor sweat, bubbles and beer flying.

"Guys! Cool it! Break it…up!" Brandon launched onto them pulling his hopped up brother off the still startled, but equally as proficient in fighting, target.

Callie ran into the commotion, too many words of horror to express, before Jude ran in behind.

"Guys – there are lights outside…" the words rang off his lips as all faces snapped towards him.

"A car just pulled up!"

**Who's in the car? How much trouble are these kids in?**

_**Next Chapter Preview: The kids have to think fast.**_


	6. Caught Off Guard

**So...thanks for reviews! Half way through now and loving the support. Glad people are enjoying.**

**I realise I haven't been thanking my friend, penpal and beta _thesameguest_ so thanks to her for reading this chapter and all of the others!**

**Right...who was in the car..**

"Oh my God! It must be Moms!" Jesus gawped, the tensions in the room finally numbed.

"It's OK, right – everyone's gone, right?" Mariana babbled out as looks of disbelief at the state around them cut her open with their glare.

"We can totally explain this…" Brandon weighed in as Callie squinted before letting out an exasperated yell. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Guys...really don't think you can explain this..." Emma looked around, assessing the damage.

"She's totally right, we're totally dead..." Jesus sprang up, pulling at his hair, the paranoia having shifted its target but not having left his system.

"I am so getting out of here!" Javi added, hopping up and running to the back. Not even Mariana was distracted by his departure, far too scared of who was on the other side of the door.

"Why would Moms be knocking?" Jude asked, a breath ahead of Callie as one of the only two sober ones in the room.

"Oh God, that doesn't make it any better…" Callie winced, now even more uncertain of what may be waiting for them.

"There are still people upstairs…" she went into action mode, remembering the flying beer bottle. "Keep them upstairs!" She ordered Emma who nodded and ran up, by far the most in control of her senses.

Callie cleared her throat as the other siblings followed, tossing any stray signs of debris from immediate crimescene behind furniture or out of the room.

"Stay out of view!" She ordered, tossing another handful of empty cups to her siblings as they were interrupted by another knock. They ducked out of sight as she moved to the door. Leaning on the door handle, she took a deep breath before opening it up to see two police officers.

"Good evening." One smiled as Callie gave them her best.

"Hi officers…is there a problem?" She asked leaning on the edge of the door, trying not to open it too wide.

"We were just checkin' in." The taller of the two grinned. He had a thick southern accent. "We had a bit of a noise complaint from one of your neighbours. Are your parents in?"

Callie looked back to the house before giving them a wider smile.

"No they're away…sorry that's totally my fault. You know, empty house…just had the music up. Sorry – must have got out of hand."

"So you're home alone?" The other officer clarified.

"Uhm, yeah, except for my…sibling."

She dropped the end of the word off for vagueness just in case she was probed further. For all she knew these were good friends of Stef's from the force.

"And you got a name there, sweetheart?" One flipped out his notebook, Callie's eyes fixed to it but not wanting to arouse suspicion by failing to comply.

"Callie." His eyebrows raised clearly wanting more.

"And the neighbours said this was the Adams Foster house, is that correct?" He scribbled down as Callie bit down at her tongue.

"Uhm, yeah. Yeah…"

The southern officer cocked his head to the side. "Man does that name sound familiar." He squinted, looking to the sky and scratching his head with his pen as Callie's heart dipped. She was OK, there was nothing incriminating to be passed on. Not yet…

"OH!" The officer yelped shaking his head as Callie jumped.

"One of the guys on the beat back down in Alabama. He was a Foster."

The other nodded, apparently un-phased as Callie let out a silent sigh of relief. Clearly the precinct wasn't as small as she had feared. She was quickly unnerved again as the officer continued to talk, tucking his book away.

"Mind if we poke our head in? Just, you'll understand we're used to home alone teens being prime contestants for underage parties…"

Callie wavered on the door before making her gamble.

"Sure…" She leaned it open wider, praying they hadn't missed anything in immediate view. Luckily most of the damage was in the kitchen, she just hoped they didn't stray that far.

The two officers lingered a step or two in the door before scanning the rooms in view. There was a thumping silence as Callie said a silent prayer nothing out of the ordinary came from upstairs or her inebriated siblings.

An excruciating minute passed as the officers dabbled forwards, lingering and ducking their heads to have a sneak around.

"OK." The taller one eventually smiled. "Sorry for the intrusion, just try and keep that stereo down."

"You got it." She nodded as she guided them back to the door.

"Well have a nice night, Callie." The other smiled. "You keep this door locked up too, gotta be careful who you let in your house, especially with your parents away."

"I'll remember that." She nodded, inadvertently closing the door in the hopes it may hurry them. Eventually they left along with their final goodbyes and she closed it shut, throwing herself back against it with another exasperated sigh. As the rest of the kids emerged, Emma bringing the stragglers from upstairs they eventually removed all of the inhabitants who weren't in the family or attached to a family member.

A few moments of silence descended before the stress of the evening flooded through Callie and she closed her eyes, closing the door behind the last few guests.

"What…the hell…" She whispered.

"Man that was close!" Jesus looked desperately between everyone. "What if they knew, do you think they knew?"

"We closed down the party!" Brandon stammered. "Man I'm hungry…" his attention quickly shifted as Jesus eyes lit up. "Shit man, me too…do you think they knew we were hungry?"

Taylor giggled into her hand as Mariana rolled her eyes.

"You idiots!" She blasted them. "You can't just try and beat up the hottest guy in school and then have chips!" She stood up pointing lazily at Jesus.

"I thought he was attacking you! Hey, do you think he's still here?" He looked around the room. "What if he was and he's just screwing with me?"

"God!" Callie shouted, having had enough. "You guys need to sober up, like _now!_" She blasted them. "For all we know Moms are coming back! Ah crap." She slapped a hand to her forehead. "I have to call them…Jude…I forgot." She turned to him, the preceding events completely overwhelming her. "We need to get you to bed."

"I'm OK, I think…" he too had almost become too distracted to fully focus on how he was feeling.

"Look, I'm going to get Jude to bed, Taylor, Mariana, Emma - you're the most sober, please – just try and tidy up. We need to get this place fixed up as soon as possible just in case. For all we know Moms are already coming back."

"You think these two can get anything done?" Emma observed looking at the two hopeless boys sat before them.

"They're gonna have to…I don't care if it's eating all signs of snacks, just get them a coffee or something and start to clean!" She put an arm around Jude before leading him up the stairs, scared of what she may find. She walked him into his room, relieved that apart from general disarray there wasn't any sign of extreme damage.

While he got himself ready for bed, she got her phone out to make the call she had promised but was still dreading. She dialled Stef's number and was unnerved as Lena answered. She knew immediately what that must mean.

"Hey…is…is Mom driving?" Callie asked nervously her eyes closing at the reply.

Their clock was set. Just over an hour.

**So...Moms aren't back yet, but they will be soon. Will the kids get stuff tidied in time? How will they hide the fact they're home? Were the policemen truly convinced? Will Brandon and Jesus stop being hungry? Would love to know your views and predictions!**

_**Next Chapter Preview: The kids race against the clock - what will Stef and Lena find when they arrive?**_


	7. Home Sweet Home

**Alright I wasn't gonna post 3 days in a row but as people seem keen for the homecoming I will. Thanks for the great reviews to the last chapter! Love the engagement so much - and loving the theories and guesses! I would expect any definitive answers yet because where's the fun in that...**

**Thanks to _thesameguest_ and let's see what happens next...**

"OK – kitchen's mopped up..." Taylor, now having sobered significantly over time, came through with the mop and bucket. "You know you're really good at this leadership thing. I mean, the way you're just getting everyone to join in and help out…have you thought about being like a teacher or something?" She leaned on the mop next to Callie who was currently biting hard down on her teeth channeling all of her strength into not taking her frustrations out on the chatterbox before her.

"Right now, I really just wanna focus on surviving tonight rather than my career if I'm honest…" Callie mumbled back, forcing a grin. "Considering we've got no way to explain the fact we have smashed half our glasses…"

"Right!" Taylor rolled her eyes back. "Sorry, about that you know…I mean…hey couldn't you just get some more tomorrow? I mean they were pretty standard glasses. Or do your Moms have like more somewhere. My Mom has like 3 different sets depending on who's round for dinner. This one time –"

Unable to find any patience Callie raised her palm and forced her least aggressive smile.

"Taylor, no offence but I really don't have the time right now." She pleaded, the cleaner version of what was in her head coming out.

"Sorry!" Taylor pulled gently on the ends of her hair. "Blah blah blah, that's me. My Dad always says he's gonna have "probably died talking" on my grave." She chuckled to herself. "Hey if your Moms go after all of us then maybe it'll be tonight, right?" She nudged Callie, now firmly biting her lip.

"Ha, well…uhm. _Brandon!_" She yelled, unsure of how else to continue, the tiredness and panic taking all of her tact. He stumbled over, clutching his head, the effects of his intake beginning to wear.

"What? I've sorted the glasses. I put some of Mom's fancy ones in the cabinet to fill it out and the few that didn't smash in front. It should give us time to replace them."

"See, perfect!" Taylor cuddled up to him, apparently not just an endless talker but also an endless optimist.

"Great, but that's not it. You two need to figure out what you're going to do. You know, 'cause…you're not meant to be here…and you're _really_ not…"

"Oh my God! Of course!" Taylor turned to her drowsy boyfriend.

"Uhm, aren't you guys not meant to be here either?" Emma added looking to the twins. She wiped her hands together having deposited some of the bins out in the alley.

"That is a very good point…" Mariana added in, the sobriety having snuck in for her too as Callie shook her head. She was torn between wanting to help in order to keep the party covered but also not wanting to be the only one in trouble, especially considering she'd done the least wrong.

"I think that's all the beer bottles gone." Jesus joined them soon after Emma, stumbling slightly. It was clear that although he may have come down a little the side effects were still prevalent.

"Well look, you're all getting busted for drinking if you're found, no matter how you cover this up." Emma looked at him, nudging his side.

"Do you think we can hide?" Jesus twitched his hand to the back of his head.

"Hey we could all just pretend we're asleep." Mariana shrugged.

"But you're not meant to be here at _all_. None of us are!" Callie weighed in seeing she was still very much the only voice of reason. "You don't think they'll be pretty suspicious?"

"You could say we came home because Jude was sick…" Brandon suggested.

"I still vote hiding." Jesus put his hand up. "We could all hide in Brandon's room, his is the sneak to...I mean easiest to out of…ha! I totally can't say it." He chuckled into himself as Emma shook her head.

"You could maybe stop your Moms from checking if they do…" Emma completed his losing sentence.

"Ooh! That! _That!_" Brandon pointed.

"Woah, I'm not sleeping in there with you two! That's just gross and so a _no_!" Mariana piped up.

"You got a better idea?" Jesus accused.

"If I do, you gonna get the wrong impression and jump me?" She scoffed.

"Jeeeez, Mariana! Let it go, it was the..." he paused short of the admission, just forward thinking enough to remember Callie didn't know about the brownie. It would have been lost on her anyway, far too absorbed in the action plan.

"Guys!" She silenced them, there definitely not being time for a fight in said plan.

"Mariana I don't think we have another choice, look, you can try and sneak back in once Moms are asleep but it's probably risky."

Mariana gave a lazy nod, understanding what they were working with.

"Well, I'll leave you to it…" Taylor hopped towards the hall, Brandon close behind.

"Same." Emma planted a quick kiss on Jesus' lips.

"You gonna get back OK?" Callie asked, safety still forefront.

"We're going same way right?" She looked to Emma who nodded. "We'll be fine." They assured her as they let Brandon take her to the door.

"Alright, the house is decent enough…guys get bathroomed and done because Moms could be back any – "

"Back door…back door!" Brandon came running back through with the girls, eyes wide.

_"Shiiiit!"_ the group scurried and hovered back and forth as the girlfriends leapt through the kitchen door, Callie getting ready to stall.

"Get up!" She urged her siblings on with her hands as they dashed up towards the stairs, the front latch clicking open.

She ran through to catch Lena and Stef arriving.

_"Heyyy!"_ She beamed, twitching her arms across her chest.

"Hey…" Lena replied nervously.

"You waited up?" Stef added as they leaned in to kiss her.

"I…well, yeah. I wanted to be able to fill you in, you know. On Jude. He's sleeping. Do you want a drink before bed?" She pointed to the kitchen as Stef and Lena exchanged an awkward glance.

"I think we should go check on him first. Everything been OK?"

"He just went to sleep, I really think it's best you not disturb him." There was some banging coming from upstairs as her siblings, clearly underestimating their noise level stomped into the bathroom.

"Or, maybe he's up. Look – you just got back, had a long drive. Really…go through to the kitchen, have a drink – I'll get him." She twitched her a hair over her ear as Stef squinted, Lena about to say otherwise.

"OK." Stef cut her off, Lena turning confused as to why she would be buying it.

Callie's eyes widened as Stef ran a hand down Callie's arm

"You go check on him, we'll have a drink and some desert – then you can come down and you tell us why you lied to us?" she ended the rub with a squeeze, along with the propel of an eyebrow.

Callie gawped for a moment, her heart pace quickening.

"About not being at Tiffany's." Stef clarified, Callie once again unable to sigh her relief.

"Right." Callie nodded anxiously. "I mean, there's not much to say just…I didn't have anyone to stay with but I really didn't want to affect your trip, you know?" She added, hoping solving it now may avoid dwelling on it.

Stef and Lena looked to each other again, Lena getting a vibe to allow Stef to control the conversation.

"OK, well, that was noble but still not acceptable. Understood?"

"Got it." Callie nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Well we will have to consider if we're going to punish you for it." Lena added, still not entirely sure what the bigger picture of this may be or what Stef was planning with her compliance.

"I…get that…" Callie smiled hesitantly.

Stef's eyebrow still felt a pull to raise, scrutinising the expression on Callie's face.

"And you're not lying to us about anything else, right?" Stef dipped her head as Callie's heart thumped. She wasn't in trouble here, she shouldn't be…this was so _not_ her fault. All she had to do was tell them. Mind you, she hadn't lied either. They hadn't asked any questions about the party for her to lie about...so technically...she shook her head. As if technicalities were going to get her out of this. She flashed between her expectant mothers realising time was ticking.

As Stef's eyes urged for an answer she dipped her eyebrows down.

"Right…you make it sound like I'm hiding a rabble of partying teens in the house or something." She blurted out, barely knowing what she was saying, as Stef and Lena didn't respond, clearly noticing she still hadn't answered the question.

_Where the hell did that come from? _She scolded herself internally. _This is never going to work. Just tell them and take it!_ She chewed on her lip but quickly stopped realising how guilty it made her look. No. She couldn't blow them out the water. They were so close.

"No, I'm not lying about anything else." She added with a gulp, but just subtle enough to get by.

"Alright then…" Stef nodded after a brief pause. "In that case maybe you should head to bed once Jude's off. We'll come up after we've had something to refresh."

"Got it." She nodded. The nerves, guilt and relief cocktail flushing through her, she leaped up and hugged them both. "Night, moms." She added before quickly edging up the stairs, leaving Stef and Lena exchanging a concerned look. Something wasn't right about this.

* * *

"OK, they're staying downstairs for now but you guys have to be quieter!" Callie swung into Brandon's room, the twins stood there haplessly.

"I'm going to bed...look...just try to keep it down OK?"She ordered, not giving them time to respond. She made her way into Jude's room, watching him lay peacefully still.

"Hey...what happened?" He sat up, noticing her enter, as she caressed his forehead back down to the pillow.

"It's OK, as long as those idiots are fast and try and keep the volume down. I think we have a little while before Moms come up." She was now getting too tired to police. This hadn't been her fault as she was resenting being the only one worrying about it.

"How are you feeling?" She squeezed his cheek.

"Better..." He shrugged.

"Well, I'm glad Moms are home in a way. It's good to know they're here in case you need them."

He gave her a smile back. "I'm glad too - but I've got you anyway." He whispered back before they were interrupted by a rising ruckus in the hall.

"For now anyway..." He added with a smirk as Callie rolled her eyes and headed out to the hall.

"What the hell are you two doing?" She scolded through a husk. Jesus was clearly panicking and Brandon dozily trying to keep focus.

"Jesus thinks he saw Mom."

"I swear, her light flicked on and she was standing in the doorway."

"If Mom was here she'd bust us!" Brandon shot back. "She's downstairs! We'd have heard her come up!" The two of them bickered as Callie once again made an effort to shush them.

"I swear she was..." Jesus turned back to look at her bedroom and jumped back again.

"She's friggin there! _See!_" He grabbed both his siblings and pointed to the empty doorway. Callie shook her head angrily and strode towards Stef's bedroom. If Stef was there, they were already busted - if she wasn't they would be soon if there wasn't an end to this noise.

Callie switched the light on and pushed open the door as Jesus yelped.

**What did Jesus see? What are Stef and Lena thinking? Will somebody crack? Will something give it away? As always, would love to hear the predictions!**

_**Next Chapter Preview: Stef and Lena have a surprise for the kids**_


	8. The Meeting

**Thanks for the reviews guys! I loved the suggestions. I wish so much I could do like 3 versions of this story! Maybe I'll do another party fic in my other AU to play things out differently. Thanks to _thesameguest _as always and here is the next chapter...**

_"Shhhh!"_ Brandon slapped his arm. "What are you yelling about? The room's empty!"

Jesus danced in swinging his head around violently. "I...guess it was my reflection." He pointed bashfully to the mirror.

"OK, I've had enough of this!" Callie replied angrily. "I didn't want this stupid party in the first place and I told you to shut it down! I'm risking _everything_ covering for you idiots so I'm not gonna let you get caught now! Go to _bed!_"

"Hey I didn't start this party either..." Brandon complained.

"_Just relax Callie, honestly. It'll be fine._" Callie mimicked Brandon's earlier words, mockingly. "Don't try and pretend you weren't up for this! Not that it matters, we're all screwed."

"Callie..." Jesus added, the anger in his face provoking the guilt.

"Just go to bed!" She shot back through a whisper, storming out. "I'll text you in the morning when it's safe to meet me at the car."

The two boys were left bumbling to the empty room.

"Let's just do what she says." Brandon shrugged, the guilt hitting him too.

"Brandon..." Jesus began. "I'm really hungry..." he whimpered as the two of them left to head to bed.

* * *

"Good morn-" Stef began before seeing Callie had already risen. She looked around confused and poked her head in the bathroom, only to find it empty. She moved on to Jude's room, still fast asleep. The worst of the sickness had definitely taken place at Connor's leaving them with a relatively peaceful night.

She cleared her throat loudly and moved over to Brandon's room, the door tightly closed. She listened intently, waiting a few moments before swinging the door open.

She raked her neck out to give it the once over. Not entirely convinced, she stepped forward.

"Mom?" Callie came from behind, grabbing her attention away.

"He's at Aiden's remember." she smiled, swaying edgily as Stef turned back.

"Right, of course." Stef shook her head. "I dunno where my head's at. You're up early."

"Yeah, I was actually going to surprise you...I was gonna go collect the others so we could spend the day together with you...now you're home now anyway."

"I see." Stef folded her arms. "Interesting you're assuming you still have driving privileges." Callie's mouth dropped open slightly, completely forgetting she herself may be in trouble. Stef let her suffer a moment before talking again.

"You _do_. I'm just reminding you that we haven't actually discussed things properly yet."

"But, I do...?"

"Yes. I think we'll let you off with a warning seeing as you helped out with your brother. But don't lie to us like that, Callie."

"Of course..." she replied, now guilt creeping in. Stupid siblings and their stupid party. She couldn't narc on them, not even to keep herself out of trouble - but it didn't stop her from hating it. Stef closed Brandon's door behind as they made their way down stairs.

"Jeeez that was close!" Mariana dipped her head round the edge of the alcove as they heard the footsteps quieten. Brandon and Jesus rolled out from their hiding place under and behind the bed.

"We need to get dressed and meet Callie outside." Jesus mumbled rubbing his head. The action plan was taking some effort to instigate along with the heaviness of the night before.

"I can't believe we're having to sneak out of our own house!" Brandon wheezed. "Why did I agree to this stupid party?"

"Hey, you weren't complaining when you had a beer in your hand." Jesus grumbled back, a text from Callie giving them the all clear for keeping the Moms busy downstairs. The three of them quietly gathered their things and put their plan into action, managing to make it out and meet Callie with the car down the road.

"So, what? Now we just drive around the block until we've been out long enough to pretend you've picked us up?" Mariana asked, plugging in her seatbelt.

"It depends how fast we are at finding and buying glasses." she replied, speeding off towards town.

* * *

As the kids filed back into the house after their scavenger hunt, Lena was straightening the cushions on the sofa.

"Hey kids! How was your night?" she gave them a toothy grin as they exchanged nervous looks, Jesus gripping tight to the glassware purchased as if she could see through the rucksack it was concealed in.

"Good!" Brandon smiled as the others nodded.

"How was Aiden's Mom? You know it's been so long since we've caught up with her. We should have his parents round for dinner at some point." she suggested, busying herself with the cushions on the sofa.

Brandon exchanged a look with Callie before gulping down his nerves.

"Yeah...I think they're uhm, going away. What with the school holidays coming up soon."

"No time before?" she replied as Jesus nervously rubbed his hair, Mariana herself twitching. If any of their alibis were broken it would mean certain discovery.

"They were talking a lot about how much they had to do before. Probably best to not bother them for a while."

Lena stood straight, her brow creasing and locking him in a gaze. She held it for a painstaking few moments before breaking into a smile. "OK. Maybe we'll arrange something in a few weeks.

The chests in the room collectively sighed down, releasing their nervousness as Lena turned back to her tidying.

"Morning kids!" Stef piped up behind them, loaded with bags.

The four faces turned to her confused, noting her choice in clothing.

"Mom...why are you in your uniform?" Jesus asked, eyeing her up and down.

"I had some business down at the station to attend to. You know, catch up on things. Plus I may need it for later. Never know what I may need to investigate."

The kids barely had time to process before she tossed one of the bags to Brandon.

"Can you two boys come to the kitchen please." The two lads looked to each other, their palms increasingly sweaty. Why just those two? They had been the two who had eaten the brownies...but she couldn't know that. But she'd just been to the station. What if they officers who came knew? What if they could -

_"Boys!"_ Stef cut off their thoughts. "Today would be nice - I need some muscle to help with these bags."

The pulsing in their heart stopped but they were still lost for words. Jesus twitched his fingers around his bag strap taking another from his Mom.

"Right." Brandon agreed, both of them heading out the way as the girls moved more slowly. As the boys disappeared with Stef, the girls were stopped by Lena's voice.

"Does the place seem neater to you?" she asked crossing her arms and examining the sofa.

"You know usually when I arrange it there are some signs of life but I haven't even vacuumed yet and it seems pretty spotless." Callie and Mariana exchanged glances again, delaying their move up the stairs to try and think of an appropriate comment.

"Wait a minute..." she continued turning to them.

"Callie..." she said gravely as her daughters' hearts began to pound.

"Did you clean up last night to make up for things?" her tone shifted to one of appreciation as both girls burst out a nervous giggle.

"You got me." She replied, flashing a hand across her nose.

"That was very sweet of you." Lena caressed her arm.

As Mariana watched and tried to let the relief flow, she noticed something else that was odd about the scene.

"Uhm Mom..." she began.

"Why are you tidying up the living room?"

Lena turned to her with a smile.

"We're hosting the neighbours association meeting." Stef chimed to the boys who had gathered their thoughts enough to ask a similar question - especially with the selection of foods being placed out onto the table that had been the contents of the bags.

"You...since _when_?" Brandon asked, unable to hide the fear in his voice. They seemed to have dodged the bullet of Stef having been at the station, but now it provoked an even shadier memory of the fact the police had come based on a neighbour's complaint.

"Well we were obviously meant to be missing it today and had postpone our turn to host because of it, but I called Maggie and told her we were back so thought we may as well get it out of the way!" she continued to unpack and opened the cabinet door, Jesus' eyes widening.

"Hey…" she paused pulling one of the few of the ordinary glasses that hadn't been smashed to reveal the posher ones behind. Jesus almost dropped the bag holding the replacements in his hands as she clearly counted the glasses in her head.

Brandon opened his mouth to prepare an excuse before Stef started talking again.

"We're gonna need more than this. I'll make sure to get the extra box out." She placed the glass back in the cabinet and closed the door, once again the relief setting in for the kids.

"We'll get them." Brandon immediately chirped, seeing the perfect opportunity.

She squeezed his arm with a word of thanks before glazing a hand on Jesus' cheek.

"You look tired sweets, you and Jordan end up playing games late?" Jesus had barely recovered from the glass ordeal to mumble out a response. "Wait..." She stopped as she examined a small bruise on the side of his face - clearly from his altercation with Javi. Luckily the two of them had barely connected in their drunken state, but he wasn't completely unscathed.

"Where did you get that bruise from?" She asked sternly. Brandon gulped down trying himself to think of an excuse.

"Jordan's a really bad loser…" was all he got out once he had found his voice. "He uhm...threw the controller at me...just jokingly, but he hit me by mistake."

Stef shook her head with a sigh. "You boys need to watch it...I should really call his mother."

"No!" Jesus snapped back, a little too eager as Stef's eyes bulged.

"It was an accident, Mom...please, don't embarrass me." He pleaded as Brandon looked between them. Stef mulled it over with a wince, inspecting it one more time.

"OK...not this time...but it better not happen again." She ordered, pinching his chin.

"Look I'm going to go check on Mama and the girls. Could you boys finish unpacking for me? The guests will be arriving and I need to get changed. Thanks loves." She kissed Brandon's head and waltzed out the room.

"Uhm…yeah." Brandon agreed as they watched her go, quickly whipping out the new glasses from the bag. They said a silent prayer in thanks that they had been generic enough to be easily found as they piled out the others, merging the two types together in the perfect cover.

"Well that's one less thing to worry about." Brandon sighed, placing his head on the table as Jesus slammed a crate next to it.

"Uhm, Brandon…" He commented, drawing his brother's gaze from his forearms. Both exchanged a look as they examined their Mom's choice of beverage.

The exact same beers they had purchased the night before – different from her usual.

"Are you getting the feeling that…"

"They know?" Jesus finished off Brandon's sentence, the whispered panic batting between them.

_"Kids!"_ Stef bundled in, both boys snapping their heads to her.

"The neighbours are arriving! Quick, food through to the dining room…let's go." She grabbed a tray and carried it through, indicating with her head for them to follow.

**Just so you know, that won't necessarily be the last scene set on party night. Let's just say there may be some memories from certain characters as they're forced to review the way things happened. But for now, what do we reckon? _Do_ Stef and Lena know the details or are the kids just paranoid? If they don't, how long before they find out? Now the neighbours are coming - will someone have seen something...or will the kids crack before they are outed? Keep the comments coming and thanks for reading and all the reviews!**

_**Next Chapter Preview: The kids speculate how much is known and panic as developing events may reveal more.**_


	9. Confidence and Paranoia

**Argh - you're all fantastic! I love how deep people are getting into this. I wanted a story that kept people guessing rather than the usual party night cliché and I love that so many of you are embracing that! I love it so much, I'll give you another chapter today!**

Mariana and Callie huddled around the hallway as the guests gathered around the living room. So far only small talk had been exchanged between the neighbours, their Moms working their way around.

"This is torture…" Mariana whispered to Callie.

"Look, let's just keep calm. If Moms knew anything we'd know…right?" She bit at her thumbnail.

"We have no idea who called the cops." She hissed back as Callie matched her tone. "We have no idea if Mom invited them round because she spoke to the cops this morning!"

"I am well aware of that. But come on...they wouldn't go to all this trouble just for that. Besides, not everyone comes to these things, right? It must have been one of our immediate neighbours and none of them are here." She observed, just as Stef opened the door.

"Hey there Lacey, come on in." She greeted as the girls' hearts sunk.

"Until now…"

Their tall blonde neighbour greeted Stef before heading over towards where they stood.

"Hey girls." she smiled.

"Hey." They replied in unison.

"Yoy two look tired. Late night?" she asked with a flick of an eyebrow before placing her food contribution down and heading back over.

"She knows. God, she knows." Callie panicked.

"We don't know that for sure!" Mariana whimpered.

"Yeah well we'll find out pretty soon when Mom hangs us up by our thumbs!"

"How can you even watch this?" Jesus fidgeted over, cutting Callie's fretting off.

"What does it matter? They know anyway." Brandon added, the girls looking over.

"What? Are you sure?" Callie asked shocked throwing him a terrified glance.

"No but…look! Mom _never_ buys this brand of beer…and she was totally hinting at the glasses…"

"We only got it because it was on offer...maybe she thought the same. And she didn't actually notice…" Jesus reasoned rubbing his hair, their minds in overdrive. Without the effect of the pot he and Brandon's attitudes had all but completely swapped.

"What if it's mind games?" Brandon's eyes widened in fear as Mariana rubbed her face. "You're the one who thought you saw her last night!"

"Yeah, but we checked, didn't we?" he replied, looking round the room.

"I think we need to come clean." Callie shook her head. "They'll be much more reasonable if we just admit it. Maybe they're testing us!"

"What? No!" Jesus whispered as the faces swapped from Callie to him. "Look, let's not do anything rash…"

"But if they already know…" Brandon piped in again.

"We don't know if they do…" Mariana rubbed her palms on her thighs, Callie juat about to protest before Stef's approaching figure snapped them all into silence.

"What are you kids all doing hiding back here?" She asked moving over. All four of them jerked away trying to look badly like they weren't conspiring. She was stood sternly, still in her uniform.

"What's going on?" She asked suspiciously, her police voice coming out to match her dress code. "It's like I just sprayed water on oil." The metaphor was met with blank expressions.

"You all dispersed suddenly…" she clarified.

"You just uhm...you look really..._strict_ like that." Jesus whimpered.

"I just like to remind you of my power." Stef replied firmly before breaking into a smile.

"Wow, you guys seem tense. You see me in my uniform all the time and it doesn't usually bother you. Unless of course you're hiding something?"

"We were just uhm…bitching about people and you startled us." Brandon commented, trying to thing quick. "You know…neighbourhood gossip."

Stef rolled her eyes at the comment with a smile, the rest taking the small relief it gave them to release a quiet laugh as best they could.

"Well I'll admit…these meetings are prime contestants for knowing what everyone's been up to. Maybe we should find out what happened last night, huh?" She commented popping a piece of carrot in her mouth – all four faces freezing.

"Right, Callie? After you commandeered the craftsman for your own use." She squinted, once again jumping down hard on the see-saw that was endlessly to-and-fro in their heads

"Right…" Callie eventually replied through a half smile.

"Anyway, we don't like this lingering. You need to either come join the meeting or go in another room." She ordered, wiping her hands. "I'm gonna go get out of these clothes, I'd hate for the neighbours to get intimidated." She nudged Brandon and strode off. As soon as she was out of earshot the kids turned together, seamlessly picking up where they left off.

"I think we vote." Brandon jumped in. "I can't take this."

"On where to stand?" Jesus replied confused.

"No, dummy! On coming clean." Mariana slapped his arm as he rubbed it, biting back defensively.

"Well what's the point in that vote? We'll probably tie." Jesus disputed before Brandon fired straight back, ignoring him.

"I'm telling you, they know…Mom has that _look_."

"I thought she looked more like she didn't." Mariana replied. "And if they know, they _know_…admitting it won't get us in less trouble."

"It may stop me from having a nervous breakdown." Brandon rubbed his face. "Look this was your stupid idea anyway. Why are Callie and I even involved?"

"Hey, no way – you agreed!" Mariana spat back."

"Guys! Fighting is not going to help." Callie silenced them both, trying to keep the peace. "Whether we like it or not we're in this together. OK, Brandon? But guys I think he does have a point. If they're testing us or not right now it's only a matter of time before they do know…there's just too much that can be revealed. For all we know someone's about to emerge from a closet who passed out unknown - not to mention Lacey from next door." She folded her arms, Mariana's eyes bulging at the thought.

"Lacey doesn't seem like the types to narc...she's not much older than us." Jesus reasoned as Callie immediately bit back.

"Well someone called the cops. If it wasn't her then someone else knows too..."

"Someone who isn't necessarily here..." Mariana batted the ball back.

"Can't we at least just ride out the meeting?" Jesus suggested. "We may have a better idea by the end of it. Waiting that long isn't going to do us any harm."

"Decision times kids –" It was now Lena's time to startle them, apt words under the circumstances as the silent looks to each other indicated with a huff and a plead that Jesus' method would be instigated.

"You either go upstairs or you come join the meeting."

"We'll uhm…" Callie looked to the others, none of whom had a clue whether it was better or worse to face it in person or not.

"We'll go up." Brandon chimed in, deciding if he was going to have a nervous breakdown it would be better had upstairs.

"OK – well grab something before you go. The brownies are good – your Mom must have got them earlier in the week." She left them with the parting thud, Jesus and Brandon looking to each other horrified as they broke vision to turn and zone in on the half eaten plate.

Callie looked to them confused, not having been privy or clear headed enough with the panic to pick up on the signs of the space cake debacle the night before.

"What?" She asked with dread.

"The brownies…" Jesus babbled. "Where did we leave them?" His voice dropped low.

"You hid…or I hid…I mean…" Brandon wracked his brain as hard as he could but the specifics failed him every time. Finally a bulb lit and he dashed to the kitchen, Jesus in hot pursuit. The only person left to answer, Callie looked to Mariana whose face was mostly hidden by her palms. Without needing it to be asked, she answered the question.

"One of the guys from school brought space cakes..." She explained, Callie taking a moment to look back at the table before the expletive left her mouth.

The boys bundled into the kitchen, practically falling over each other and desperately scanned the room, trying to remember where they hid the contraband.

Mariana and Callie immediately sprung towards the plate picking it up just as Stef returned down with a quizzical look.

"What are you two doing with those?" She asked as the two girls, practically fighting over the plate gaped down at it and back to their Mom.

"Look we need to tell you something..." Callie began as they saw Brandon's figure appear behind.

**How far have the space cakes gone? How will Stef and Lena react to what they find out? Keep the comments and guesses coming!**

_**Next Chapter Preview: The brownies take another victim and some more secrets from the night of the part emerge**_


	10. Secrets Revealed

**Thanks for the reviews guys...I hope you're ready for this one! I'm gonna miss the theories so much but the mystery will be over soon. Thanks to _thesameguest_, here we go!**

"These Brownies have nuts...and there's no warning." Mariana blurted out in a quick re-route seeing the cutting throat motion Brandon was making, shaking his head in a desperate attempt to halt any confession. Jesus nipped behind with the un-touched left overs in his hand that had been (much to his relief) still in their position from the night before.

"Nope...I bought them this morning and got nut free." Stef assured her. "I thought you kids were staying out of the way?" She added.

"We..." Mariana looked to her sister who quickly threw the plate back down.

Stef eyes them both up and down. "You know you're going to have to do better than that to convince me." She folded her arms.

"To..._convince_ you?" Mariana squeaked out. Stef raised her eyebrows and leaned forward to whisper to them.

"Your party."

The two girls stood in silence, both shell shocked. In a speight of panic Mariana's eyes welled.

"What party?" She simpered out, hoping for one last chance, as Stef's back straightened up.

"The one you guys are having in the kitchen." She finally responded.

The two girls could barely hear above the pulsing in their temples as Stef grabbed a brownie past them.

"Anyway, if it gets boring you can always come weigh in on whether we need to _re-paint_ the road lines or whether we should have a competition for the Christmas lights this year." Stef squeezed Mariana's shoulder as she walked away leaving them stood, hapless by the table. Eventually Mariana turned to her sister with a baffled look and rested her head against Callie's arm with a whimper. They staggered through to the kitchen where Callie immediately brushed her palms down her face.

"That was way too close…" Brandon emptied the tainted brownies swiftly into the bin, tying it up and storming out with it.

"I can't believe you guys were dumb enough to get high!" Callie spat at Jesus, lashing out, barely recovered from the conversation that had just taken place.

"We didn't know what they were!"

"They were brownies at a party, Jesus!" She shook her head with venom in a vicious whisper

"I can't believe you couldn't tell…" Mariana weighed in, settling her head on her palms, elbows pressed hard against the breakfast bar.

"OK – I think this is making us crazy." Jesus patted his palms on the surface. "Now we're looking for signs. No wonder we're going mad!"

"I kinda agree." Brandon added, returning from outside, his mind clearly having been changed. "We need to hold out. We can't admit this." The brownies reminding him exactly how much trouble he could be in if they came clean. Callie rolled her eyes, casting off to pace the room. If Brandon had buckled she knew she was now outnumbered.

"She just mentioned _party__!_" She scowled back in disbelief.

"But then she left it - no _way_ she wouldn't have yelled at us by now. We're making too much of it!" Mariana argued in desperation.

"You know what, fine." Callie batted them away. "If you wanna risk it go ahead, but one more hint they know and I'm confessing." She said in finality.

"We ride it out then…it's all we can do." Jesus assured them, now squeezing his hands into a fist. With the nods of agreement, or at least resignation, they waited until the signs of the end of the meeting drew to a close.

* * *

"Well that was as fun as ever." Stef scoffed as she and Lena cleared plates.

"Nothing…interesting then." Mariana edged, trying to be as inconspicuous as she could.

"Not unless you include whether Mr and Mrs Suarez should have to trim their hedge or not." Lena flicked an eyebrow up.

"How's uhm...Lacey?" Brandon broke out, Callie throwing him a look at his lack of stealth, even though he was only really asking what they were all thinking.

"Good. Little Benny is sleeping through the night now." Stef smiled.

The kids waited for the inevitable follow up - it was the perfect lead in to a comment - but the silence indicated it wasn't going to come.

The mood was calm. There didn't seem to be any sign of hinting or ulterior motive. Silent looks of acknowledgement were exchanged. Maybe it had just been the paranoia building up and they had managed to ride this one out after all.

"Well, thanks for your help setting up, kids." Stef smiled, breaking the telepathy. "You couldn't do us a favour and get all this cleared back into the kitchen, could you? We wanna go check Jude's doing OK after his illness."

They were met with an eager to please chorus of _sure_-s and _yes_-s as the kids immediately bustled to work.

"Thank you." Lena chimed as the two of them headed up the stairs, moving to their room via a quick check on their youngest.

"Well that was exciting, huh?" Stef chuckled lazily, rolling onto the window seat.

"Probably a little sadist for my liking…but you're right. I think that did have an impact. I can't help but wish they'd just come clean though."

"After all this effort to cover up? It looks like they were stronger than we thought. We would have had to put no doubt in their mind. Maybe if it was one of them, but not when they're a team. It's a good thing they're all terrible liars."

Stef chuckled to herself with a smug expression. "And now they'll still have it in the back of their minds until we finally put them out of their misery."

"And when is that going to be exactly?" Lena sat down on the edge of the bed to face her.

"I don't see why we should tell them any earlier than we have to." She smiled before breaking into a laugh.

"Their face with the brownies. It was priceless! It was almost as good as yours last night." She teased.

"Okay, okay. Can we…move on from that, please. Besides, I am definitely _not_ comfortable with that having happened. Whenever we do tell them, I'm making them do a drugs course. That could have had some serious consequences."

"Oh I know, you babbled _all_ the potential consequences at me last night – it was some place between _"you know what, Stef, maybe they're just kids being kids, Stef."_ and _"man I need Cheetos. Do we have any Cheetos?"_ Stef chuckled as Lena slapped her knee.

"Not. Funny. You promised, Stefanie."

"Oh don't Stefanie me! You only had two bites, sweetheart. Anyway – you survived." Stef chuckled hopping over to encase her wife's shoulders in her grasp.

"Yes, well let's be glad they did too…"

"For now." Stef added with menace, kissing Lena's cheek. "Let's see how they survive once we're finished."

* * *

**[Flashback]**

**"No, I'm not lying about anything else." Callie added with a gulp, but just subtle enough to get by.**

**"Alright then…" Stef nodded after a brief pause. "In that case maybe you should head to bed once Jude's off. We'll come up after we've had something to refresh."**

**"Got it." She nodded. The nerves, guilt and relief cocktail flushing through her, she leaped up and hugged them both. "Night, moms." She added before quickly edging up the stairs, leaving Stef and Lena exchanging a concerned look. Something wasn't right about this.**

**The house looked in order…but there were those quiet voices telling them otherwise.**

**Whispering voices…and far too many feet.**

**"Does it sound like there are too many kids in this house?" Stef whispered.**

**"Unless Jude and Callie have made a disproportionate number of trips back and forth to the bathroom, yes.****" she raised an eyebrow. "Should we go up?"**

**"Not yet...I wanna have some evidence for a full story." Stef crossed her arms, peering up to the direction of the stairs.**

**"Well if you're making me wait I'm gonna have some food, ****that journey has brought my appetite back****…****you want that desert we skipped?"**

**"I'll grab something in a minute - I'm going to call Johnny and see what they found out when I sent them round before." Stef got her cell out. "He texted back saying nothing major to worry about but too call him when we were home." She explained as Lena moved to the cabinet.**

**"I wonder if he picke****d up**** any reasons why we apparently now have less than a half of the glasses we're meant to…" She observed picking out one of the old and one of the posh replacements, waving them towards her wife.**

**"How stupid do they think we are?" Stef commented, putting the cell to her ear and taking it out of the room as Lena busied herself getting a snack. After a few minutes Stef returned.**

**"OK – he said there were no signs there was anything still going on, but he spotted a beer bottle on the lawn and**** he saw a couple of solo cups kicked aside. Also**** said Callie was ****definitely ****hiding something and he was sure he heard some running and whispering before she answered."**

**"If they were having a party they probably shut it down as soon as Callie spoke to us."**

**"I'm gonna kill them." Stef shook her head. "You know I could see the twins or Brandon doing something like this, but Callie?"**

**"You think Callie would stop them? She never likes to get anyone in trouble. It probably explains why she is sober as a judge."**

**Stef shook her head and rubbed her face.**

**"Hey where did you get these brownies from?" Lena asked, taking another bite of the delicacy. "They taste strange."**

**"****Not me. Kids must have bought or made them. I'm gonna go upstairs see what I can find out." She mumbled heading into the hall****, her mind fixed on piecing this together with more ammunition for confrontation.**

**As she moved through she caught site of a bottle up on one of the shelves.**

**"Sloppy work, kids." She shook her head. "How did you think you'd get away with this." She mumbled to herself. Briefly her mind wandered to parties of her own youth, remembering the ones they had and hid, successfully and not. She couldn't help but smile at some of the things they'd done. The keg stands, the beer pong, the space… her eyes widened in fear as she bolted back to the kitchen.**

* * *

**OK - any predictions for the rest of the night? Any re-thinking of theories? What do you think of how it panned out? How right were you? 2 chapters left...**

_**Next Chapter Preview: The rest of the night's events are revealed. **_


	11. Moms Be Trippin'

**Thanks for reviews guys, you're all awesome! Penultimate chapter, hope no one is disappointed with how things end up. Thanks to_ thesameguest._**

**This is a full flashback chapter so I'll not bold it, but it carries on from the previous.**

"Do _not_ take another bite!" She ordered ripping the desert out of Lena's hand.

She dipped her eyebrows in confusion. "What is it?" She asked as Stef's fear turned to a smirk, burying her face in her hand.

"Oh they're so dead." She laughed humourlessly before looking to Lena, knowing the dawning moment was inevitable. Sure enough her eyes expanded and her mouth dropped.

"No….no, no, no, no…._no!_" She leaped off her stool.

"Honey…you only had a tiny – "

"I'm a vice principal, Stef!"

"And I'm a cop…." She chuckled before seeing too good an opportunity. "Actually honey…" her voice dropped deadly serious. "I think I may be bound by my profession to take you in…"

Lena slapped Stef's outreaching hand.

"You can not seriously be joking about this. Drugs…in our house…"

"Oh don't worry, there'll be no joke when I'm done, they won't know what hit them." She reassured her, pulling her in. She was furious but she also had been a teen and she also trusted that had anything serious come of things Callie would have come clean. She may be loyal but she wouldn't put anyone at serious risk.

"What's going to happen to me now?" Lena whimpered, Stef biting her lip at the genuine innocence. Of course Lena would never have experimented at High School. "And if you even _try_ to exaggerate to wind me up you can give up any chance of the things we never got to do tonight ever happening again." She warned, anticipating Stef's next move.

Stef licked her lips and cupped Lena's cheeks. "You may get a little spaced, a little hungry and maybe a few other things – but don't worry. I got you." Lena closed her eyes and shook her head, striding away to pace.

"What are we going to do?

"Leave it with me for now, let's see exactly what we're dealing with." She wondered what she would have done had she caught them mid-party. She no doubt would have exploded, but the stillness of the house and the efforts gone into trying to hide it was calming her rationality and giving her mind space to play with creativity.

Stef slipped off her shoes as Lena grabbed a glass of water.

"What are you doing?" She asked with confusion.

"Not making the same mistake as the kids." She kissed Lena's cheek before carefully tiptoeing up the stairs.

Hearing some faint voices she slipped into her room and balanced the door ajar, making sure the light was off.

Her stealth was awarded with Jesus bobbing out of Brandon's room as he heard the click of the door. He was twitchy and rubbing the back of his head.

"Why did we pick your room?" He whispered as Brandon emerged from the bathroom with a _"Shh!"_

"It's like the furthest from the bathroom!" He added, ignoring the chastisement.

"Relax, it's fine!" Brandon slapped his arm as they both looked around desperately.

"They can hear us, I know they can!"

"Then quit talking!" He fell on to grip his shoulder.

"Man this stuff is screwing with my head. How come it's not screwing with anyone else's?" Jesus looked to his brother desperately.

"I didn't have as much as you and the girls didn't have any, remember?" He babbled. "You must be coming down now though, right?"

"I dunno, it's like it's coming in waves. Oh shit, what if I don't come down? What if I'm still high tomorrow?" Jesus' eyes lit up in panic again.

"We've got this...they're home and the place is clean...Moms won't figure it out." Brandon tried desperately to convince them both.

Stef let out a silent smirk with a headshake at his misplaced confidence. She could tell the boys were sobering but there was still enough in there to distort their perspective. It was taking all of her strength not to reveal herself to bang their heads together. Terrify them...but then there was part of her that wondered what impact that would really have, considering how buffered their mind currently was. She still felt the opportunity too good to waste however. Thankful that they had recently oiled the doors she opened her door ever so slightly more so that she could be seen.

If the boys were going to be stupid enough to experiment with drugs she would show them how screwed up it could really make them.

Quick as a lick, she flicked the light on and off and dived behind the door. It had the desired effect as Jesus' head snapped to her.

"Holy crap - did you see that?" He shook Brandon through the further shushing.

"Dude! They'll hear us."

"Mom! I saw Mom! I am not joking." Jesus moved towards the door as Brandon yanked him back.

"It's the paranoia."

"I saw Mom...I'm telling you..."

Stef shook her head, biting her tongue down, torn between teasing them further and ripping them apart. She heard the door click open and Callie emerging with some chastising words.

Quietly she moved to peek back round, Jesus eyes still fixed on the door, ignoring Callie. As he was momentarily distracted she stood in the door again until he saw her and quickly disappeared as he alerted the others. Knowing with a sober Callie they would be investigating, she moved fast under her bed as inevitably they came in to check. It took all of her composure not to spring out to scare them but as she heard them fluff through their fears she realised a much more effective way of punishing the kids was to leave them stewing - through fear of getting caught they were figuring out what they were accountable for and analysing what they did wrong - not to mention turning on each other. An idea cropped up in her mind as she waited for the kids to leave. Once the coast was clear she moved back down the stairs and returned to Lena in the kitchen.

"OK - I know what we're working with here." She informed her, Lena gulping down what looked like the latest in a series of water runs.

"Sweetheart..." she chuckled, momentarily distracted. "It's not alcohol, I'm not sure that's gonna help you."

"I was hoping it would fight the drowsiness..." She said hopefully. "I also think I should get some snacks to take up, you know? Be prepared." She looked so earnest and Stef couldn't help but smile. Only Lena would immediately think organisation after accidentally getting high.

"Honey..." Stef gripped around her. "I think you need to just relax and give into it a little. Hey, you have a legitimate excuse to be wasted. And I have a legitimate excuse to giggle about it." Lena pushed her off with a clap.

"Kidding, kidding." Stef defended herself.

"Anyway..." Lena cut her off sternly, her head becoming heavier. "What did you find out?"

"The boys are stoned, party was Jesus and Mariana but Brandon dived right in and they think they've got away with it...Lena?" Stef asked noting her diverting gaze.

"Lena." She repeated as her wife snapped back.

"Sorry I just...have we always had the notices at that angle?" She moved towards the pin chart in the room as Stef grabbed her back.

"Okaaay. Let's sit down, shall we." She plopped her down on a stool, passing her the water she had abandoned over.

"Right...they got away with it." Lena repeated, trying to stretch out her eyes back into focus.

"No they _think_ they did. The reason you're getting mixed up is proof that they are very much _not_ getting away with it and they're going to be feeling it into next century."

Lena nodded placing a palm on her forehead. "I can't believe this is happening. I must seem like a total idiot right now. _Focus, Lena._" She rubbed her forehead, her better senses fighting with the increasing pull. "I'm gonna kill them. How could they do this? I thought they had more respect! And more brain cells." She took another gulp of water

"Yeah, well get in line." Stef replied, taking the seat next to her. "I do think it's just recklessness though, I just don't think they thought at all."

"And that's an excuse?" her wife replied, trying her hardest to grip on to her shock and anger.

"Oh, hell no. There's no free pass for stupidity. They know better, however opportunistic they were."

Lena shook her head, swilling the glass before a smile broke out.

"What are you giggling at?" Stef asked, almost already resigned that the sudden smirk was probably not quite in Lena's control.

"I've just never noticed how funny that word sounds when you say it angry..." Lena added, confirming it.

"Okay Mama, now I think it's safe to say you've boarded the flight to Greenland." She put her arm around Lena's back as her wife rubbed her face with a whimper.

"God...I can even hear it happening...please tell me we're gonna go bust them." Lena turned her head, placing it onto Stef's shoulder, almost trying to steady the pull.

"And try to discipline them as their Mom gets steadily more high? I don't think so." Stef looked to the stairs as she massaged Lena's arm, placing her other hand over her wife's forehead. "Though as you're going to hit paranoia soon I reckon so I'll probably have to restrain you from storming into their room to check on them for a billion reasons."

Lena groaned out as Stef chuckled lightly.

"Don't worry, I got you. And as far as the kids go, I have no intention of rushing this. There's a chance they may come clean themselves at this rate, they're already bickering...but even if not, I think drawing this out will have more impact than yelling at them while they're still drunk. Right now that would only punish Callie and she's the least to blame."

"Sweet girl." Lena added softly, her voice becoming quieter and almost dreamy. "We did good there."

Stef shook her head before gently kissing Lena's.

"We did. We did good with all of them and I think they'll be very wary of that as we dollop them a thick serving of doubt and guilt about what we may or may not know." A flash of mischief flickered across her face thinking back to her prior actions in involving her buddies from the force. "I told the boys to say it was a neighbourhood complaint that brought them here, right?"

"Mmmmm…" Lena acknowledged, though only part taking in the words as her brain floated gently against Stef's heart beat.

"I think we should maybe host that meeting we postponed after all…"

* * *

**Any final guesses on how the kids will find out the news? How far will Moms go? Final chapter next!**

_**Final Chapter Preview: Stef and Lena break the news to the kids.**_


	12. End of the Road

**Here we go...I hope people like. Thanks to _thesameguest _and_ TheTBone _for all of their help in the idea generation and writing of this story!**

* * *

**A couple of weeks later...**

"First day of the school holidays!" Jesus leaped past the TV, flicking on his console and diving onto the sofa.

"You got plans?" Brandon distracted him as he emerged. A couple of weeks had passed now and their mid-term break had begun.

"Other than chilling? Nope. No school work. No school. No worries. Emma will probably be round a bit."

"And I am going to wear out my shoes at the mall." Mariana joined in the conversation.

"So you can buy new ones?" Callie added, walking behind.

"Hey, B, can you flick the Kinect on? I must have not done it right."

"Slave driver." Brandon rolled his eyes as he walked over.

"Well look at you kids all ready for your holiday, huh?" Stef chimed in.

"So ready." Jesus laid back against the cushions.

"Uhm…this isn't coming on, Je. Is it broken?" Brandon looked over as his younger brother sat up briskly.

"No way, that can't be right." Jesus jumped over pulling it out.

"Wait…" he scratched his head.

"The cable's gone…"

"Oh right." Stef replied. "We forgot to mention…you're grounded."

Jesus turned, confused, quickly searching his brain for a reason.

"Ha! Too bad, bro." Brandon nudged him.

"Oh, you are too." Lena added. "All of you are, in fact."

Callie's heart was the first to drop in realisation, followed swiftly by Brandon's and then the twins.

"Anyone wanna guess why or are you still going to pretend we don't know you hosted a drunken party the night of our anniversary?"

There was a mixture of eyes closing and mouths dropping as Stef delivered the blow.

"You uhm…"

"Knew?" Lena finished Callie's question.

"Since when?" Jesus added horrified, the shock removing any chance of filter.

"Well, round about the time we heard Brandon whispering to Callie while she was on the phone but the empty beer bottles, resurrecting glasses, scurrying feet and pot brownies gave us pretty good confirmation."

"Yes. We know about the drugs and alcohol and there's going to be an extremely invigorating series of lectures on those for you to look forward to at some point during this so far undefined period of Amish existence - along with a few smacks of _'what the hell were you thinking'_-s, but it can wait till we get back. We're pretty sure you'll be going over what you did wrong again and again during your punishment so we look forward to hearing your thoughts on our return." Stef encased Mariana under her arm.

"Where are you going?" Brandon asked nervously, not even considering attempting an argument.

"We're going to have the anniversary trip that was so heinously interrupted. But don't worry, you kids will have plenty to do while we're gone. We've left a list, well – _book_ may be more apt. If you're smart, you'll make sure it's all done before we get back…but then again, it's not like you will have anything else to distract you with seeing as your phones, cables, computer batteries and social lives will be with us."

"Who's gonna be here?" Callie asked cautiously, not sure she wanted to know.

"Morning all!" Dana's voice chimed in from the kitchen as the kids all turned.

"Well, if anyone can be trusted to make sure a job's done properly in excruciating detail - it's my Mom." Lena smiled, Dana giving her a gently nudge.

"So, we'll be back in a few days. If you'd all like to go and retrieve your cell phones and computers, we'll take good care of them." Stef clapped he hands together as the kids slumped off their chairs towards the stairs.

"Hold up..." Stef put a hand on Callie's shoulder as she passed.

"Listen, we know that this party wasn't your idea." She assured her as her eldest daughter looked up.

"You do?"

"Yes, Mom heard you guys talking about it that night in the bedroom."

"So you _were_ there!" Callie replied, barely noting the fact she seemed to be being pardoned.

"Yes...I'm always there." Stef squinted. "So, we would actually like to thank you...for at least attempting to keep control of things and staying sober. We know that you tried to stop it and that it can't have been easy." She squeezed her shoulders with affection as Callie's eyebrows raised.

"So...does that mean I'm not grounded?" She asked with a hopeful cock of her head as Stef looked to Lena, pulling the young girl under her arm.

"Of course...you could have tried _harder._" Lena replied, hinting that the obvious answer didn't need to be voiced. "By, I don't know, telling us what was going on one of the million times we asked, _not_ trying to cover up, _not_ lying to the police..."

"How did you even..." Callie's voice raised before her eyes closed with a sigh. "Never mind. I guess I should have seen that was you too."

"Mmhmm." Stef added smugly, rubbing her shoulder.

"So I guess I am still grounded then." She resigned as Stef walked her to the stairs.

"I guess you are." Her Mom confirmed. "But we'll make sure Gram goes easier on you than the others, and it won't be for as long." She added with a light pat on her daughter's behind. "Now go on, beat it." Stef crossed her arms as Callie scurried up the stairs in defeat.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you two, you're creative." Dana turned to them.

"Creative... sadistic... as long as the message gets thumped in I don't care. Thanks for doing this Dana." Stef hugged her.

"Hey, it's my pleasure. It'll be nice to spend some time with them, even if it's with a whip."

"Oh and it goes without saying Jude isn't being punished, though obviously he won't be able to play any of the games considering the cable's gone!"

"And you heard what we said to Callie." Lena added. "She may have lied to us but we know she is probably responsible for keeping everyone alive."

"Yeah...mainly because she kept us away." Stef snarked with a laugh.

"Noted." Dana nodded. "Well, I am off to assemble the cleaning products and get a good look at that attic. See where we're going to start." She moved out of the room as Stef made Lena jump slightly, pulling her tightly in.

"4 days, just you and me while our kids do all of the chores we've been putting off for a decade. Why do I feel like the hot tub at this hotel is going to be even better?" She nuzzled her.

"Well maybe we should roll celebrating our honeymoon into it too, seeing as we had that stolen as well. About time we had a chance to relax and have some fun of our own."

Stef dipped forward to kiss her wife strongly on the lips.

"You got it. Just one thing…" Lena pulled her head back to look at Stef, intrigued as to what she was going to say.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to search your bags before we go."

Lena squinted momentarily before pre-emptively rolling her eyes.

"It's just I've heard stories about the kind of _fun_ you have…"

Lena pushed Stef away and cast off towards the stairs.

"I just want it to be clear that under no circumstances are narcotics allowed during any part of this trip. I know you vice principal types. "

"Keep talking there, honey. You think _you_ can get creative with punishments…just wait."

"Oh!" Stef laughed as Lena strode up the stairs. "Now this _is_ going to be a fun trip!" She chased after her as they waltzed on – celebrating the end of a crazy year in the best way they knew how.

**Well, there you have it! I know a lot of folks were expecting a confession but I didn't want to lose the impact. If one kid confessed they wouldn't have kept it from the others and I wanted the blindside factor. **

**Anyhow - now we're at the end, I would love to know overall impressions and any feedback. It always helps improve my writing! A couple folks have mentioned sequels - I am always up for ideas, you just may have to suggest what it is you want to see! Just give me a shout. **

**On that note, if you feel anything was missing or want to see something specific from this story tell me, has to be quite specific request though - and no promises I'm afraid - but I'll try.**

**Obligatory self-promo: if you liked my style you may wanna check out my other stories. ****Certainly Fostering Fun, and if you're brave enough I have a full series in my AU. **

**Thanks for reading, putting up with my British spelling and all the reviews! You're all fantastic!**


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